ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Head and Neck Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1607890
Global, regional, and national burden of head and neck cancer in males and associated risk factors from 1990 to 2021: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Provisionally accepted
- Wuhan Children's Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background Head and neck cancer (HNC) is one of the most prevalent malignant tumors, with higher incidence and mortality rates in men than in women, particularly for lip and oral cavity, nasopharyngeal, laryngeal, and other pharyngeal cancers. This study investigates global trends in the occurrence of these cancers in men from 1990 to 2021 and analyzes their changing trends to guide healthcare policymakers in resource allocation. Methods Using data from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD 2021), this study assesses the global prevalence, incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for male head and neck cancers. It also evaluates the relationship between cancer burden and economic development using the Socio-Demographic Index (SDI) and analyzes the risk factors for male head and neck cancer mortality and DALYs. Results From 1990 to 2021, the impact of male head and neck cancers increased at varying rates. In 2021, there were 968,573 prevalent cases of lip and oral cavity cancer, 272,917 incident cases, 136,890 deaths, and 3,969,812 DALYs globally. The burden of nasopharyngeal, laryngeal, and other pharyngeal cancers was lower, with 385,913, 939,924, and 258,723 prevalent cases, respectively. The age-standardized incidence rates for all four cancers were positively correlated with the SDI. Key risk factors for male head and neck cancers include smoking and alcohol consumption. Additional risk factors include chewing tobacco for lip and oral cavity cancer deaths, formaldehyde exposure for nasopharyngeal cancer, and occupational exposure to sulfuric acid and asbestos for laryngeal cancer. Conclusions Lip and oral cavity cancer remains the most burdensome, while nasopharyngeal cancer is increasing in East and Southeast Asia. Laryngeal cancer has declined in high-SDI regions, while other pharyngeal cancers are rising. Gender and lifestyle are key risk factors, underscoring the need for early prevention, particularly in resource-limited areas. As the global population ages, targeted prevention and improved healthcare infrastructure are essential.
Keywords: Global burden of disease, social-demographic index, head and neck cancers, male, risk factor
Received: 08 Apr 2025; Accepted: 13 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 姜, Xia and Yao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: 俊杰 姜, 313826054@qq.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.